Raising Dogs That Change Lives

DELRAY BEACH — A new member recently joined Skip and Cheryl Brown's family -- but the union may be short-lived.

He is every pet owner's dream: Attentive, fast-learning and disciplined.

Six-month-old Sonny -- a cross between a Labrador and golden retriever -- is already a student with great potential.

The Browns are puppy-raisers for Canine Companions for Independence, a nonprofit organization that trains dogs at its Southeast Regional Center in Orlando to become companions for people with disabilities.

Skip Brown, a Delray Beach police officer, and his wife took in Sonny in August when he was 8 weeks old and have been teaching him basic obedience skills. Brown was hoping his former K-9 partner, Olk, would help him train Sonny, but Olk died of a heart attack two days after Sonny was born. The Browns will see Sonny through his "teenage" stages and just when he blossoms into an 18-month-old, well-trained adult, they will let him go.

"A lot of the guys at the police department say, `How [are you] going to do this and give him up?'" Brown said. "He was a special gift when he came to me, and he will be that much more special when I return him."

The Browns know Sonny is not "their" dog, just a visitor until the real payback comes, when someone else benefits from their work.

Canine Companions for Independence breeds the dogs in California, and the Browns picked the puppy up from Orlando. Puppy-raisers pay at least $10,000 to get the dogs ready to serve, Canine Companions officials said.

Puppy-raisers are responsible for housebreaking, obedience school, vaccinations and veterinary care, as well as the food supply. These volunteers teach the puppies simple commands and complete a basic dog-training course of their choice. At 5 months, Sonny earned his yellow and blue cape, identifying him as a Canine Companion. Sonny already knows 14 commands and will have 30 down by the time he leaves.

Once back at the regional center in Orlando, Sonny will learn more specialized commands as opening and closing doors, turning on lights, retrieving objects from a counter or shelf and collecting the mail.

Sonny already is trained to pick up newspapers from the driveway.

"I'll go out there in the morning and tell him to get the paper and he goes out there and grabs it and comes right back," Brown said. "That's easy to teach him."

When Sonny is matched to a person with disabilities, he'll undergo two more weeks of training with that person.

Graduation Day is the day when everybody cries.

"They're tears of pride," said Kathy Pearson, Southeast regional puppy program manager. "There are tears when they return the puppy for advance training. I equate it to sending the child off to college. It's time for them to go their own way but there are always tears.

"It's a tremendous sacrifice on the part of the puppy-raisers," Pearson said. "Anyone who has ever held an 8-week-old puppy knows the bond that happens between puppy and human. But the puppy-raisers are pretty special people. They know going in that they are raising the dog for someone who could not do it."

But only 35 percent of the dogs graduate, either because they have health problems, such as a physical abnormality like hip problem, or their temperament is not suited to the job, Pearson said.

"We're not going to change a dog's basic temperament," Pearson said. "We're going to mold and shape that temperament. Some dogs are not suited to become assistance dogs, but they make wonderful pets."

Brown spent most of his career working with dogs. He has had two K-9 partners, both of whom are now dead.

Already, Brown is bracing for the inevitable separation.

"It's going to be hard to let him go because of the hours I got in him, and he hasn't been in this world that long," Brown said. "But that's what this program is all about. He is going to change somebody's life."

C. Ron Allen can be reached at crallen@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6611.